Digital camera processing system

ABSTRACT

A digital camera processing system with software to manage taking photos with a digital camera. Camera software controls the digital camera. A downloaded software component controls the digital camera software and causes a handheld mobile device to perform operations. The operations may include instructing a user to have the digital camera take photos of a check; displaying an instruction on a display of the handheld mobile device to assist the user in having the digital camera take the photos; or assisting the user as to an orientation for taking the photos with the digital camera. The digital camera processing system may generate a log file including a bi-tonal image formatted as a TIFF image.

Checks typically provide a safe and convenient method for an individualto purchase goods and/or services. To use a check, the individualusually must open a checking account, or other similar account, at afinancial institution and deposit funds, which are then available forlater withdrawal. To pay for goods and/or services with a check, thepayor (i.e., the buyer) usually designates a payee (i.e., the seller)and an amount payable on the check. In addition, the payor often signsthe check. Once the check has been signed, it is usually deemednegotiable, meaning the check may be validly transferred to the payeeupon delivery. By signing and transferring the check to the payee, thepayor authorizes funds to be withdrawn from the payor's account onbehalf of the payee in return for the goods and/or services provided bythe payee.

Checks have certain advantages over other forms of payment, such ascash. For example, while often considered the most liquid type of asset,cash also may be the least secure. Unlike a check, cash is usuallyfreely transferable and does not have to be endorsed. Thus, the ownerand possessor of cash is most often the same individual. Because cash isfreely transferable, cash that is lost or stolen typically cannot berecovered. Therefore, the risks associated with cash transactions areoften unacceptable, particularly with respect to transactions notconducted in person (e.g., by mail) and/or involving large sums ofmoney. A check, on the other hand, provides a payor with more securitybecause the check usually requires a payor to specify both the personand amount to be paid. Furthermore, as noted above, the check is usuallynot valid until it is properly signed by the payor. These safeguardshelp to reduce the risk that money will be lost and/or stolen and ensurethat the proper payee receives the proper amount of money.

Cash may have other disadvantages as well. For example, because cash isfreely transferable, there may be little or no verifiable transactionhistory. It is often desirable for a payor and/or payee to have physicalproof that a particular transaction took place. This typically requiresthat the payor receive a receipt. However, receipts may contain errorsand can be easily misplaced. In contrast, a bank processing a check willordinarily create a transaction history, which may include the identityof the payee, the amount to be paid, the date of the payment, and thesignature of the payor. This enables both a payor and payee toindependently verify the accuracy of most transactions involving apayment by check.

While a check may provide a payor with a convenient and secure form ofpayment, receiving a check may put certain burdens on the payee, such asthe time and effort required to deposit the check. For example,depositing a check typically involves going to a local bank branch andphysically presenting the check to a bank teller. In addition to thetime commitment that may be required, visiting a bank branch may beproblematic for the payee if the bank's hours of operation coincide withthe payee's normal hours of employment. Thus, the payee may be requiredto leave work early and/or change work schedules.

A check may pose other burdens for the payee. As noted above, a checkmay not be freely transferable, thereby limiting the payee's ability touse funds from the check. For example, it is usually difficult to forthe payee to purchase goods and/or services using a check issued by thepayor. While the check may be endorsed and accepted by a third party,such transactions are often disfavored because the third party may notknow the payor and, thus, may not be willing to accept the risk that thepayor has insufficient funds to cover the check. Therefore, the payeemay not have access to the funds from the check until the payee depositsthe check at the bank, the check has cleared and the funds have beencredited to the payee's account. The payee may have to wait even longerif the payee chooses to deposit the check by mail. Therefore, there is aneed for a convenient method of remotely depositing a check whileenabling the payee to quickly access the funds from the check.

The described embodiments contemplate a system, method andcomputer-readable medium with computer-executable instructions forremotely redeeming a negotiable instrument. In an embodiment, a novelsystem may include financial institution electronics, such as a serverequipped with appropriate hardware and software for facilitating depositof a check. Such electronics may be configured for receiving from acustomer computer an identification of an account for deposit of acheck, and an amount of said check. They may be further configured forreceiving an image of a front side of said check, and for analyzing saidimage to determine if it meets at least one criterion. The criterioncould be, for example, image size, image legibility, image orientation,image format, presence of certain image features that indicate the imagein fact represents a check, and so forth. Financial institutionelectronics may be also configured for determining if there is an errorin a deposit transaction. Numerous errors are possible candidates fordetection, and several exemplary errors are provided herein. If thereare no errors that warrant aborting the transaction, then suchelectronics may be further configured to initiate a deposit of thecheck.

In another embodiment, a novel system may include, for example, acomputer readable medium bearing instructions that can configure acustomer's general purpose computer to facilitate a check deposit.Acting under direction of such instructions, the general purposecomputer may instruct a customer, for example via a display coupled suchcomputer, in utilizing an image capture device to generate an electronicimage of a front side of a check, such that said electronic image of afront side of a check meets at least one first criterion such as imagesize, image legibility, image orientation, image quality, and locationand/or orientation of the check within the image. Instructions mayfurther be provided for receiving the image of a front side of a checkfrom said image capture device, and optionally instructing the customerto process the image, e.g., by approving the image and/or modifying itto meet at least one second criterion. A second criterion might also be,for example, one or more of image size, image legibility, imageorientation, image quality, and location and/or orientation of the checkwithin the image. Finally, the customer computer, acting under directionof the instructions, may deliver an approved electronic image tofinancial institution electronics.

Additional advantages and features of the invention are described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The systems and methods for remote deposit of checks in accordance withthe present disclosure are further described with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a broad view of a system in which the describedembodiments may be employed.

FIG. 2 an exemplary general purpose computing device that iscommunicatively coupled to financial institution electronics as well asan image capture device.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary schematic architecture of an imagecapture device as may be used in connection with various embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary network architecture as may connect thecustomer's general purpose computer to financial institution electronicsand may also serve to connect components of financial institutionelectronics as well as various financial institutions to one another.

FIG. 5 illustrates financial institution electronics coupled to acomputer 530, and the various aspects of electronics 500 and computer530 that may operate to implement the novel systems, methods, andcomputer readable media set forth herein.

FIG. 6 illustrates a view of the invention with particular focus on thesoftware component 600 which may perform certain operations inconnection with embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Certain specific details are set forth in the following description andfigures to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments ofthe invention. Certain well-known details often associated withcomputing and software technology are not set forth in the followingdisclosure, however, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the variousembodiments of the invention. Further, those of ordinary skill in therelevant art will understand that they can practice other embodiments ofthe invention without one or more of the details described below.Finally, while various methods are described with reference to steps andsequences in the following disclosure, the description as such is forproviding a clear implementation of embodiments of the invention, andthe steps and sequences of steps should not be taken as required topractice this invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system in which the described embodimentsmay be employed. System 100 may include account owner 110, e.g., a bankcustomer who may be located, for example, at the customer's privateresidence. The account owner 110 may be utilizing a customer-controlled,general purpose computer 111. General purpose computer may be coupled toan image capture device 112. Customer 110 may use the image capturedevice 112 to generate an image of a negotiable instrument such as acheck, and may send the image, along with any other data as appropriate,via a publicly accessible network 120 to financial institution 130electronics such as server 131.

In one embodiment, the financial institution controlling electronics 131is also the institution at which the customer has an account 160.Financial institution 130 may perform a variety of steps to process theincoming check image and other data. For example, financial institutionmay ensure the check is valid, ensuring the check image is in properform for electronic handling, ensure it is not a duplicate of apreviously deposited check, and so forth. Financial institution 130 mayalso forward the image over a network 125 to one or more other entities140, 150, which may be associated with an account 170 on which the checkwas drawn.

A general purpose computer 111 is generally a Personal Computer (PC)running one of the well-known WINDOWS® brand operating systems made byMICROSOFT® Corp., or a MACINTOSH® (Mac) brand computer, running any ofthe APPLE® operating systems. General purpose computers are ubiquitoustoday and the term should be well understood. A general purpose computer111 may be in a desktop or laptop configuration, and generally has theability to run any number of applications that are written for andcompatible with the computer's operating system. The term “generalpurpose computer” specifically excludes specialized equipment as may bepurchased by a business or other commercial enterprise, for example, forthe specialized purpose of high-speed, high-volume check deposits. Aparticular advantage of embodiments of the invention is its ability tooperate in conjunction with electronics that today's consumers actuallyown or can easily acquire, such as a general purpose computer, ascanner, and a digital camera.

An exemplary general purpose computer 111 as may be utilized inconjunction with embodiments of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 2.Device electronics 200 are illustrated in FIG. 2, and a schematic blowup202 is provided to illustrate an exemplary internal architecture of thedevice. Computing architecture 202 includes one or more processors orprocessing units 204, a system memory 206, and a bus 208 that couplesvarious system components including the system memory 206 to processors204. The bus 208 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. The system memory 206 includesread only memory (ROM) 212 and random access memory (RAM) 210. A basicinput/output system (BIOS) 214, containing the basic routines that helpto transfer information between elements within computing device 200,such as during start-up, is stored in ROM 212.

Computing architecture 202 further includes a hard disk drive 226, andmay include a magnetic disk drive 2218 for reading from and writing to aremovable magnetic disk 220, and an optical disk drive 222 for readingfrom or writing to a removable optical disk 224 such as a CD ROM orother optical media. The hard disk drive 226, magnetic disk drive 218,and optical disk drive 224 are connected to the bus 208 by appropriateinterfaces. The drives and their associated computer-readable mediaprovide nonvolatile storage of computer-readable instructions, datastructures, program modules and other data for computing device 200.Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk,a removable magnetic disk 218 and a removable optical disk 224, othertypes of computer-readable media such as magnetic cassettes, flashmemory cards, digital video disks, random access memories (RAMs), readonly memories (ROMs), and the like, may also be used in the exemplaryoperating environment.

A number of program modules may be stored on the hard disk 226, magneticdisk 218, optical disk 224, ROM 212, or RAM 210, including an operatingsystem 227, one or more application programs 228, other program modules230, and program data 232. A user may enter commands and informationinto computing device 200 through input devices such as a keyboard 234and a pointing device 236. An image capture device 246 may also becoupled to the general purpose computer 200 as an input device. Otherinput devices 238 may include a microphone, joystick, game pad,satellite dish, or the like. These and other input devices are connectedto the processing unit 204 through interfaces 240 that are coupled tothe bus 208. A monitor 242 or other type of display device is alsoconnected to the bus 208 via an interface 224, such as a video adapter224.

Generally, the data processors of computing device 200 are programmed bymeans of instructions stored at different times in the variouscomputer-readable storage media of the computer. Programs and operatingsystems may be distributed, for example, on floppy disks, CD-ROMs, orelectronically, and are installed or loaded into the secondary memory ofa computer. At execution, the programs are loaded at least partiallyinto the computer's primary electronic memory 206.

Computing device 200 may operate in a networked environment usinglogical connections to one or more remote computers, such as financialinstitution electronics 248. The financial institution electronics 248may be one or more server computers, routers, network PCs, and so forth,which typically include many or all of the elements described aboverelative to computing device 200. The financial institution electronics248 may run remote application programs 258 which may operate in concertwith application programs 228 that execute on the computer 200. Forexample, a “software component” as described herein may, in oneembodiment, execute pursuant to commands from a remote applicationprogram 258. The software component may of course also operate in a moreautonomous manner, performing certain tasks and then communicating dataas necessary back to the remote application programs 258.

When used in a LAN networking environment, a computer 200 is connectedto a local network 250 through a network interface or adapter 254. Whenused in a WAN networking environment, computing device 200 typicallyincludes a modem 256 or other means for establishing communications overthe wide area network 252, such as the Internet. The modem 256, whichmay be internal or external, can be connected to the bus 208 for examplevia a serial port interface, or by sending a signal to a wireless routerwhich then broadcasts and receives wireless signals to and from awireless card that is connected to the computer 200.

In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to thecomputing device 200, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remotememory storage device. It will be appreciated that the networkconnections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing acommunications link between the computers may be used.

A general purpose computer such as 200 may also be“customer-controlled.” A common example of a customer-controlledcomputer would be a typical computer located in a private residence. Theowner of such a computer typically has the power to install programs andconfigure the computer as they wish, subject to certain securityrestrictions that may be imposed by the hardware or softwaremanufacturers. A customer-controlled computer need not be located in aprivate residence, however. For example, computers in collegedormitories, in workplace offices, and so forth may also be consideredto be “customer-controlled.”

An example of a computer that would not be consideredcustomer-controlled would be an Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) that istypically controlled by a bank or other business. Although a customermay access and utilize an ATM machine, the ATM machine is notcustomer-controlled because the allowed uses of the ATM machine arehighly restricted. Relevant factors in determining whether a machine iscustomer controlled are thus the scope of operations that a customer mayperform using the machine, and extent to which the customer canreconfigure the machine in some way by adding software and/or hardwarecomponents.

One of the applications 228 that may run on a general purpose computer200 in connection with the invention is a browser. Common browsers inuse today are, for example, the popular INTERNET EXPLORER® line ofbrowsers made by MICROSOFT® Corp., the FIREFOX® browsers distributed viathe MOZILLA® open source project, and the NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR® browsersalso distributed via the MOZILLA® open source project. Browsersgenerally allow users to point to a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), andthereby retrieve information such as a web page. For example, a browserapplication on computer 200 could retrieve a web page that is kept atserver associated with financial institution electronics 248, anddisplay the web page on display 242 to the account owner 110 (FIG. 1),as is generally known and appreciated in the industry and by the generalpublic.

Another application 228, or set of applications, that may run on ageneral purpose computer 200 in connection with the invention comprises“virtual machine” technologies such as the JAVA® virtual machinesoftware distributed by SUN MICROSYSTEMS® Corp, and .NET® Frameworkdistributed by MICROSOFT® Corp. In general, such applications facilitateexecution of further application programs 228 in a variety of computingenvironments. For example, a JAVA® applet is a computer program (whichmay be alternatively referred to herein as a “software component”) thatcan execute on any computer running the JAVA® virtual machine software.The applet may be provided to virtual machine software in a “sourcecode” format, and may be compiled by a “just in time” compiler, so as toput the applet in a form that can be executed by the hardware associatedwith the particular computing device. These technologies are known inthe art and may be utilized in connection with certain embodiments ofthe invention as described herein.

Referring back to FIG. 1, an image capture device 112 may becommunicatively coupled to the computer 111. Image capture device 112may be, for example, a scanner or digital camera. Computer 111 maycomprise software that allows the user to control certain operations ofthe image capture device 112 from the computer 111. For example, modernscanner users may be familiar with the TWAIN® software is often used tocontrol image capture from a computer 111. Similarly, digital camerasoften ship along with software that allows users to move images from thecamera to a computer 111, and may also provide additional functions,such as photo editing functions crop and rotate.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a schematic illustration of an exemplary imagecapture device architecture 300 is illustrated. As with the generalpurpose computer 200 of FIG. 2, an image capture device may comprise aprocessing unit 302 and memory 303. Depending on the exact configurationand type of image capture device, memory 303 may be volatile (such asRAM), non-volatile (such as ROM, flash memory, etc.) or some combinationof the two. Additionally, image capture device 300 may have mass storage(removable 304 and/or non-removable 305) such as magnetic or opticaldisks or tape. Image capture device 300 may have image capture apparatus307 such as a scanner bed, camera lens, and so forth. Finally, imagecapture device 300 may include communication connections 308 to otherdevices, computers, networks, servers, etc. using either wired orwireless media. In particular, communication connections 308 may serveto communicatively couple device to a general purpose computer such asprovided in FIG. 2.

Referring back to FIG. 1, financial institutions 130, 140 and 150 may beany type of entity capable of processing a transaction involving anegotiable instrument. For example, financial institutions 130, 140 and150 may be a retail bank, investment bank, investment company, regionalbranch of the Federal Reserve, clearinghouse bank and/or correspondentbank. A negotiable instrument is usually a type of contract thatobligates one party to pay a specified sum of money to another party. Byway of example, and not limitation, negotiable instruments may include acheck, draft, bill of exchange, promissory note, and the like.

Financial institution 130 is illustrated as associated with a server131. Financial institution 130 may maintain and operate server 131 forthe purposes of communicating with customers such as 110. Alternatively,such server may be maintained and operated by one or more third partyvendors who act under the instructions of the financial institution 130,but possess skills and resources that may be more effective in competentoperation of electronics. Such arrangements are well known in theindustry and in this case the server 131 is nonetheless considered to be“associated” with the financial institution 130.

Account owner 110 may be an individual who owns account 160, which maybe held at financial institution 130. As such, account owner 110 may bedescribed as a customer of financial institution 130 and/or a “payee”because it is contemplated that customer 110 may deposit a check madeout to him- or herself. Embodiments of the invention are also possible,however, in which the customer deposits a check made to another payee,in which case the customer and payee are not one and the same. Account160 may be any type of account for depositing funds, such as a savingsaccount, checking account, brokerage account, and the like. Accountowner 110 may communicate with financial institution 130 by way ofcommunication network 120, which may include an intranet, the Internet,a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), a cellular network, a voice over internetprotocol (VoIP) network, and the like. Account owner 110 may communicatewith financial institution 130 by phone, email, instant messaging,facsimile, and the like.

In one contemplated embodiment, network 120 is a publicly accessiblenetwork such as the Internet, which can presently be accessed from manyprivate residences and many public places such as college campuses,airports, coffee shops, and restaurants throughout the United States aswell as many other countries of the world. A variety of technologies areavailable to establish secure connections over such a public network, sothat data transmitted between computer 111 and a server 131 associatedwith the institution 130 remains either inaccessible or indecipherableby third parties that may intercept such data. The invention may makeuse of any such security technologies.

Financial institutions 130, 140 and 150 may communicate with each othervia a network 125. Network 125 may be a publicly accessed network suchas 120. Alternatively, network 125 may have certain characteristics thatdiffer from network 120, due to the different requirements ofbank-to-bank communications. For example, one might envision certainsecurity features and access restrictions being more important inbank-to-bank communications.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary computer network as may be implementedin connection with 120 and 125. One of ordinary skill in the art canappreciate that networks can connect any computer or other client orserver device, or in a distributed computing environment. In thisregard, any computer system or environment having any number ofprocessing, memory, or storage units, and any number of applications andprocesses occurring simultaneously is considered suitable for use inconnection with the systems and methods provided.

Distributed computing provides sharing of computer resources andservices by exchange between computing devices and systems. Theseresources and services include the exchange of information, cachestorage and disk storage for files. Distributed computing takesadvantage of network connectivity, allowing clients to leverage theircollective power to benefit the entire enterprise. In this regard, avariety of devices may have applications, objects or resources that mayimplicate the processes described herein.

FIG. 4 provides a schematic diagram of an exemplary networked ordistributed computing environment. The environment comprises computingdevices 471,472,476, and 477 as well as objects 473,474, and 475, anddatabase 478. Each of these entities 471,472,473,474,475, 476, 477 and478 may comprise or make use of programs, methods, data stores,programmable logic, etc. The entities 471,472,473,474,475,476,477 and478 may span portions of the same or different devices such as PDAs,audio/video devices, MP3 players, personal computers, etc. Each entity471,472,473,474,475,476,477 and 478 can communicate with another entity471,472, 473,474,475,476,477 and 478 by way of the communicationsnetwork 470. In this regard, any entity may be responsible for themaintenance and updating of a database 478 or other storage element.

This network 470 may itself comprise other computing entities thatprovide services to the system of FIG. 4, and may itself representmultiple interconnected networks. In accordance with an aspect of theinvention, each entity 471,472,473,474,475,476,477 and 478 may containdiscrete functional program modules that might make use of an API, orother object, software, firmware and/or hardware, to request services ofone or more of the other entities 471,472,473,474, 475, 476, 477 and478.

It can also be appreciated that an object, such as 475, may be hosted onanother computing device 476. Thus, although the physical environmentdepicted may show the connected devices as computers, such illustrationis merely exemplary and the physical environment may alternatively bedepicted or described comprising various digital devices such as PDAs,televisions, MP3 players, etc., software objects such as interfaces, COMobjects and the like.

There are a variety of systems, components, and network configurationsthat support distributed computing environments. For example, computingsystems may be connected together by wired or wireless systems, by localnetworks or widely distributed networks. Currently, many networks arecoupled to the Internet, which provides an infrastructure for widelydistributed computing and encompasses many different networks. Any suchinfrastructures, whether coupled to the Internet or not, may be used inconjunction with the systems and methods provided.

A network infrastructure may enable a host of network topologies such asclient/server, peer-to-peer, or hybrid architectures. The “client” is amember of a class or group that uses the services of another class orgroup to which it is not related. In computing, a client is a process,i.e., roughly a set of instructions or tasks, that requests a serviceprovided by another program. The client process utilizes the requestedservice without having to “know” any working details about the otherprogram or the service itself. In a client/server architecture,particularly a networked system, a client is usually a computer thataccesses shared network resources provided by another computer, e.g., aserver. In the example of FIG. 4, any entity 471,472,473,474,475,476,477 and 478 can be considered a client, a server, or both, depending onthe circumstances.

A server is typically, though not necessarily, a remote computer systemaccessible over a remote or local network, such as the Internet. Theclient process may be active in a first computer system, and the serverprocess may be active in a second computer system, communicating withone another over a communications medium, thus providing distributedfunctionality and allowing multiple clients to take advantage of theinformation-gathering capabilities of the server. Any software objectsmay be distributed across multiple computing devices or objects.

Client(s) and server(s) communicate with one another utilizing thefunctionality provided by protocol layer(s). For example, HyperTextTransfer Protocol (HTTP) is a common protocol that is used inconjunction with the World Wide Web (WWW), or “the Web.” Typically, acomputer network address such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address orother reference such as a Universal Resource Locator (URL) can be usedto identify the server or client computers to each other. The networkaddress can be referred to as a URL address. Communication can beprovided over a communications medium, e.g., client(s) and server(s) maybe coupled to one another via TCP/IP connection(s) for high-capacitycommunication.

Returning again to FIG. 1, in an embodiment, account owner 110 may wishto deposit a check that is drawn from account 170 at financialinstitution 150. Account owner 110 may deposit the check into account160 by converting the check into electronic data and sending the data tofinancial institution 130. Aspects of the invention may thus comprisesystems and methods carried out by the account owner 110 and hiscomputer 111. Aspects of the invention may also comprise systems andmethods carried out by the financial institution 130 and their server131 or other electronics that facilitate and enable such deposit by theaccount owner 110.

For example, account owner 110 may convert the check into a digitalimage by scanning the front and/or back of the check using image capturedevice 112. Account owner 110 may then send the image to financialinstitution 130 using the systems and methods described herein. Pleaserefer to FIG. 5 and corresponding description for a detailed exemplaryembodiment of systems and methods for facilitating and processing acheck deposit transaction. Upon receipt of the image, financialinstitution 130 may credit the funds to account 160. Financialinstitution 130 may clear the check by presenting the digital image toan intermediary bank, such as a regional branch of the Federal Reserve,a correspondent bank and/or a clearinghouse bank.

For example, the check may be cleared by presenting the digital image tofinancial institution 140, which may be a regional branch of the FederalReserve, along with a request for payment. Financial institution 130 and150 may have accounts at the regional branch of the Federal Reserve. Aswill be discussed in greater detail below, financial institution 130 maycreate a substitute check using the image provided by account owner 110and present the substitute check to financial institution 140 forfurther processing. Upon receiving the substitute check, financialinstitution 140 may identify financial institution 150 as the payingbank (e.g., the bank from which the check is drawn). This may beaccomplished using a nine-digit routing number located on the bottomleft hand corner of the check. A unique routing number is typicallyassigned to every financial institution in the United States. Financialinstitution 140 may present the substitute check to financialinstitution 150 and request that the check be paid. If financialinstitution 150 verifies the check (i.e., agrees to honor the check),financial institution 140 may then settle the check by debiting fundsfrom financial institution 150 and crediting funds to financialinstitution 130. Financial institution 150 may then debit funds fromaccount 170.

It will be appreciated that the preceding examples are for purposes ofillustration and explanation only, and that an embodiment is not limitedto such examples. For example, financial institution 150 may be acorrespondent bank (i.e., engaged in a partnership with financialinstitution 130). Thus, financial institution 130 may bypass theregional branch of the Federal Reserve and clear the check directly withfinancial institution 150. In addition, account 160 and account 170 mayboth be held at financial institution 130, in which case the check maybe cleared internally.

FIG. 5 illustrates a system for facilitating deposit of a check, inwhich financial institution electronics 500 communicate with a computer530 via network 520. There are a variety of unique aspects which may bedescribed with reference to FIG. 5. We begin with a description ofoperations that may be carried out by the financial institutionelectronics 500, which will be referred to for the sake of simplicity as“server 500” with the understanding that additional electronics may beinvolved.

Server 500 may comprise a subsystem 511 for providing a softwarecomponent 532 to a computer 530. This subcomponent may require thecustomer to download a virtual machine framework 533 so that thecomponent 532 is operable on the operating system 535 and hardware 537of the computer 530. In general, the software component allows thefinancial institution to control certain aspects of check image creationand delivery by the computer 530. Thus, while the computer 530 may becustomer-controlled, the customer downloads component 532 to facilitatea deposit, thereby allowing a financial institution to effectivelycontrol certain aspects of the image generation and delivery process.

Server 500 may also comprise a subsystem for user authentication 512,such as by requiring a username and password. Other authenticationmethods such as requiring a digital certificate, data representing acustomer fingerprint, and so forth are also possible. Userauthentication can open an interactive session supported by a componentsuch as 508, in which the user can exchange information with the server500 and receive instructions from the server 500. In addition, server500 may, in some embodiments, control operation of the softwarecomponent 532.

Server 500 may comprise a subsystem for receiving from acustomer-controlled general purpose computer such as 530, anidentification of an account for deposit of a check, and an amount ofsaid check. “Remote deposit servlet” 510 may for example provide suchfunctions. Remote deposit servlet 510 may provide a user interface (oruser interface data) to a browser 534, and such user interface mayprompt a customer to enter information such as an account number and anamount of a check for deposit. In an embodiment where multiple checksare being deposited at once, the customer may itemize the checks bywriting an amount of each. It will be appreciated that servlet 510 neednot directly take responsibility for a website, and may instead merelycommunicate with one or more other subsystems that are responsible fordoing so.

Server 500 may further comprise a subsystem for receiving from computer530 an image of a front side of said check. “Image servlet” 509 is sucha subsystem in the illustrated embodiment. In embodiments where softwarecomponent 532 is responsible for delivering images to image servlet 509,servlet 509 may be configured to communicate with component 532 asappropriate. In one embodiment, both an image of a front side of a checkand an image of a back side of a check are received. These may be twoseparate images, or may be a single image in which the separatelygenerated images are “stitched together” for simultaneous viewing as asingle image.

Server 500 may further comprise a subsystem for analyzing said image ofa front side of said check to determine if it meets at least onecriterion. Subsystems 502 and 503 may for example perform suchdetermining. In order to automate remote check deposits, it is desirableto configure server 500 to recognize that the image it receives is infact a check, that the check is valid and not a duplicate, and that thereceived image can be used to further process the transaction. Imagequality determination 502 may thus be provided to ensure that thereceived image can be used to further process the transaction.

Image usability determination subsystem 503 may further require an imageto meet additional criteria. For example, it may be required that theimage is in a particular format, e.g. a Joint Photographic Experts Group(JPEG) format. While systems may be designed to handle checks in anyformat, it may be cost effective to require customers to send in onlyimages of specified formats so as to lower development costs of thesystem. It may also be required that the image is of a predeterminedsize, or that the image has features indicating it is a negotiableinstrument of a desired type. For example, almost all checks havecertain features, such as a MICR line, a signature line, an endorsementarea on the back, an amount box, a date, and so forth. Often suchfeatures are in a consistent location on the check. A subsystem such as503 may ensure that such features are present prior to allowing thetransaction to continue.

Server 500 may further comprise a subsystem for performing OpticalCharacter Recognition (OCR) on said image of said front side of saidcheck. OCR can be useful in determining MICR line information such asrouting number, account number, and check number. It can also be used todetermine a check amount by performing OCR on the amount location of thecheck. Other information such as check date, payor name, payor financialinstitution, and so forth may be gleaned. Such information may bevalidated, for example, by comparing it to information such as a list ofvalid routing numbers, comparing an OCR-determined amount to acustomer-entered amount, and so forth, or simply stored in a log file.

Server 500 may further comprise a subsystem for determining if there isan error in said deposit of said check. Error processing 506 may beresponsible for this, and may comprise a variety of useful aspects. Inone embodiment, error processing 506 may comprise a subsystem forvalidating a routing number associated with said check. In anotherembodiment, error processing 506 may comprise a subsystem fordetermining if said check was previously deposited. For example, if alist of deposited checks is maintained for the depositing customer, thenthe check number can be compared against such a list. Comparing to alist of all deposits for an entire financial institution, or evenmultiple financial institutions, is also possible. However, if duplicatechecking is to be done in real time, i.e. while the customer waits forconfirmation, then it is desirable to streamline the process for exampleby only determining duplicates from a predetermined set of most likelyrelevant data.

Error processing 506 may further comprise a subsystem for comparing anamount of a check as provided by a customer to an amount determined byperforming OCR on said image of said front side of said check. If thenumbers do not match, the server can indicate an error and as a result,not proceed with the deposit transaction. Similarly, such an error mayresult from any error checking operation performed herein.Alternatively, certain errors can be designated as not meriting abortinga deposit, and may simply result in flagging the transaction for laterscrutiny. Such a “transaction flagging” approach is particularlyapplicable to situations in which a duplicate check deposit isidentified. Because duplicate determinations are prone to falsepositives, simply flagging, rather than aborting, a transaction may bepreferable when a duplicate is possible.

OCR may also be applied to an image of a back side of the check. Forexample, in one embodiment, an OCR analysis of a MICR line location onan alleged image of a back of a check can be made. Backs of checksshould not have MICR lines. Therefore, if such OCR process identifiesMICR information, it can be determined that the image of the back of acheck is improper. Thus, one criterion in analyzing an image of a backof a check may be the absence of a MICR line.

Server 500 may further comprise an endorsement determination subsystem505. Such a subsystem 505 may determine if a signature appears on saidback side of said check. While endorsement of a check is not legallyrequired for depositing a check into the payee's bank account, there area variety of reasons banks typically require endorsement by the payee.Endorsement determination 505 may comprise simply checking for someindication of handwriting in the endorsement area of the image of theback side of a check. Other embodiments may go further by attempting torecognize an authorized signature of the payee and/or customer.

Server 500 may further comprise temporary image storage 501 for storingimages while performing operations such as OCR and error processing.Images stored in temporary storage may be in the original format, i.e.as received from computer 530, or in some other format, such as thebi-tonal TIFF format required by Check 21 legislation, or both. In fact,it can be useful to include in some embodiments a mechanism forconverting images from such first format to a second format such asbi-tonal TIFF, and to place such images in a log file.

Server 500 may further comprise a subsystem for initiating a deposit ofa check into the specified account 513. Deposit initiation may comprisea wide variety of possible actions, depending on how such operations areinitiated in particular bank systems. For example, a deposit might beinitiated by “soft posting” or provisionally posting a credit to thecustomer's account. It might be initiated by forwarding an image to thepayor's bank or Federal Reserve. It might be initiated by placing datain a batch file for processing all the deposits for the day. Depositinitiation is any action that sets in motion a chain of automated eventsresulting in a crediting of the customer's account.

Referring now to computer 530, a number of novel aspects also pertain tocomputer 530 as well as the interaction between the computer 530 and theserver 500. As described above, a software component 532 may be executedby computer 530 in connection with carrying out the invention. Oneembodiment of the software component is illustrated in FIG. 6. Asillustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, an exemplary component 532 may execute inconjunction with a virtual machine framework 533 as described above.This gives the advantage of developing a single component that workspredictably on most customer computers, which may be configured somewhatdifferently, for example having different hardware 537 and operatingsystems 535.

A customer may connect to server 500 using a browser application 543that executes on the computer 530. The customer may view instructions inthe browser, for example instructing the customer to log in, instructingthe customer to place a check on or in front of an image capture device,instructing the customer to edit an image, and so forth. The browser mayrun in conjunction with the software component 532, or the softwarecomponent may run in a separate process and have its own user interface.

Image capture device control software and/or image edit software 531 mayalso execute on the computer 530. This software 531 interfaces with theimage capture device 540, and may serve functions such as initiatingimage capture, managing image retrieval, facilitating image editing, andso forth. In one embodiment, software 531 may provide an interface sothat it can be controlled to some extent by software component 532. Ifsoftware component is in turn controlled by image servlet 509, themanagement of the image capture and retrieval process can be performedfrom the server 500. Alternatively, at any step along the way, thecustomer can be instructed to perform certain functions using software531 or component 432, if such functions are better performed, or moreconveniently performed by a human.

Storage location 536 provides a location that can be temporarily used bythe component 532 to store images and/or a log file that may begenerated to persist useful data regarding a deposit transaction.

Operations that are performed by the system comprising computer 530,browser 534, component 532, image capture software 531, image capturedevice 540, and customer (not shown) can generally comprise providingcustomer credentials, identifying an account, identifying an amount of adeposit, capturing an image of a front side of a check according to thecriteria required by the bank via component 532, cropping and rotatingthe image of a front side of a check according to the criteria requiredby the bank via component 532, endorsing and capturing an image of aback side of a check according to the criteria required by the bank viacomponent 532, and delivering such images to server 500.

FIG. 6 illustrates a system for facilitating deposit of a check from acustomer-controlled general purpose computer, with special focus onaspects of the software component 600. As illustrated, an exemplarysoftware component 600 may comprise a variety of functional subsystems601-609. The component may in one-embodiment be server-activated in thatit executes various aspects of its functionality after receivinginstructions to do so from a server 640. As such, component 600 may havea server interface 601 for receiving commands from the server 640.

As mentioned above, the component 600 may also be designed tointeroperate with a virtual machine framework 620, for the purpose ofrealizing certain benefits as understood in the art to accompany suchtechnologies, such as facilitating widespread distribution and betterguarantees of acceptable operation. The framework 620 in turn operateson the platform of the customer's general purpose computer 630.

For example, the component 600 may provide a subsystem 602 forinstructing a customer, for example via a user interface visible on adisplay coupled to a customer-controlled general purpose computer 630,in utilizing an image capture device to generate an electronic image ofa front side of a check, such that said electronic image of a front sideof a check meets at least one first criterion. In one embodiment, thecustomer may be instructed for example to place the check face-down in atop left corner of a scanner bed. The customer may further be instructedto place the check in a certain orientation. An image thus produced willmeet criteria such as being upright and at a “right angle” with respectto a rectangular image format.

The component 600 may also comprise a subsystem 604 such as imagecapture device interface for receiving an image of a front side of acheck from the image capture device. The image may be immediatelyuploaded to the server 640, or may be temporarily persisted using imagestorage function 605. A reason for such temporary persisting is to allowfor certain customer modifications, and to allow for generation offurther images such as an image of a back side of the check. Althoughnot necessary to the invention, it can be expedient to deliver allimages to the server 640 at once.

Once an image is generated, subsystem 602 may further instruct thecustomer to process the electronic image of a front side of a check.Processing the image may comprise simply approving the image if saidimage of a front side of a check meets said at least one firstcriterion. This aspect may also be provided by another subsystem such as606. For example, the image may be presented to the customer and thecustomer may be asked if the image is right side up and legible. If so,the customer may approve the image, for example by selecting anappropriate approval button in the user interface.

Components 602, 604, 605, and 606 may operate similarly with regard tocapturing an image of a back side of a check. The customer may beinstructed by 602 to capture an electronic image of a back side of acheck meets at least one third criterion, which may in one embodiment bea same criterion as the first criterion, e.g. image size, imagelegibility, image orientation, and so forth. The image may be receivedby the component via 604. The customer may also be asked to approve by602.

Further to being instructed by 602 and/or 606 to process an image, acustomer may be instructed to modify said electronic image of a frontside of a check and/or a back side of the check, such that saidelectronic image of a front side of a check meets at least one secondcriterion. For example, an image as scanned may be presented to thecustomer, and the customer may be asked to select a bottom right cornerof the check in the image. Assuming the top left corner of the check isalso in the top left corner of the image, the customer selection of thebottom right corner of the check can be used to crop out any and all ofthe image that goes beyond the boundaries of the check.

Component 600 may also comprise a subsystem for generating a log file607 comprising data associated with said deposit. Exemplary data thatmay be collected in the log file is an identification of the operatingsystem used by the customer's general purpose computer, anidentification of a browser used by the customer's general purposecomputer, an identification of an image capture device make and model,an identification of a version of the JAVA virtual machine software, or,if .NET technologies are used, the version of the .NET Framework, and anidentification of transaction data, for example a transaction ID,account number, customer name, amount of deposit, check routing number,check number, check account number, and so forth.

Component 600 may also comprise a subsystem for data delivery 608 andcleanup 609. The delivery subsystem 608 may initiate a delivery ofimages and other data, such as the log file, to the server. It mayutilize functionality provided in the server interface 601 if desirable.The cleanup subsystem 609 may delete certain data from the customer'scomputer 630. For example, any image files that may have been createdfor temporary purposes may be deleted. Thus cleanup subsystem 609 mayremove an electronic image of a front side of a check from a memoryassociated with said customer-controlled general purpose computer 630.

It should be appreciated that the various illustrations and examplesprovided herein also disclose corresponding methods and computerreadable media bearing instructions for carrying out such methods.Furthermore, in addition to the specific implementations explicitly setforth herein, other aspects and implementations will be apparent tothose skilled in the art from consideration of the specificationdisclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and illustratedimplementations be considered as examples only, with a true scope andspirit of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image capture and processing system for usewith a digital camera, the image capture and processing systemcomprising: a portable device comprising a general purpose computerincluding a processor coupled to a memory, the memory storing: camerasoftware comprising instructions that, when executed by the processor,control the digital camera; a downloaded software component configuredto control the camera software and to manage capturing electronicimages, the software component comprising instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor, cause the portable device to performoperations including: instructing a user of the portable device to placea check in front of the digital camera and have the digital cameracapture electronic images of front and back sides of the check;displaying an instruction on a display of the portable device to assistthe user in having the digital camera capture the electronic images ofthe check; assisting the user as to an orientation for capturing theelectronic images of the check; presenting the electronic images of thecheck to the user after the digital camera captures the electronicimages; transmitting, using a wireless network, a copy of the electronicimages over a public electronic communications network from the portabledevice, wherein the transmitted copy of the electronic images is amodified version of the electronic images captured with the digitalcamera, the modified version having a different electronic format thanthe images captured with the digital camera; and submitting the checkfor deposit after the system authenticates the user and after presentingthe electronic images of the check to the user; a plurality ofprocessors coupled to a plurality of memory devices storing instructionsthat, when each instruction of the instructions is executed by aprocessor of the plurality of processors coupled to a memory device ofthe plurality of memory devices storing that instruction, cause thesystem to perform additional operations including: confirming that thedeposit can go forward after performing an optical character recognitionon the check, the optical character recognition including determining anamount of the check, comparing the determined amount to an amountentered by the user into the portable device, and reading a MICR line ofthe check; initiating the deposit after the confirming; and generating alog file for the deposit, the log file including a bi-tonal image of thecheck; and another computer, remote from the portable device, comprisinga processor coupled to a memory storing instructions that, when executedby the processor, cause the other computer to update a balance toreflect the amount of the check submitted for deposit by the portabledevice.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the bi-tonal image isformatted as a TIFF image.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the systemis configured to perform the update after the system determines thatsome mark or signature is present in an endorsement location on the backside of the check in the electronic images.
 4. The system of claim 1,wherein the digital camera is separate from the portable device.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the portable device is a PDA.
 6. The systemof claim 1, wherein the system is configured to convert the electronicimages into bi-tonal TIFF format.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein thewireless network is a cellular network.
 8. The system of claim 1,wherein the plurality of processors includes the processor of theportable device and the processor of the other computer.
 9. The systemof claim 1, wherein the downloaded software component operations furthercomprise: receiving input from the user of the portable deviceindicating an amount of the check.
 10. The system of claim 9, whereinthe instructing is performed after the receiving.
 11. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the confirming occurs after performing a duplicatedetection.
 12. A system for allowing a customer to deposit a check usinga customer's own handheld mobile device with a digital camera, thesystem configured to authenticate the customer, the system including: acustomer's handheld mobile device including: camera software thatcontrols the digital camera; and a downloaded app associated with a hankconfigured to control the camera software and to control submitting acheck for deposit by causing the customer's handheld mobile device toperform the following steps: instructing the customer to have thedigital camera take photos of front and back sides of the check; using adisplay of the customer's handheld mobile device to assist the customerin having the digital camera take the photos of the check; presentingthe photos of the check to the customer after the digital camera takesthe photos; and transmitting, using a wireless network, a copy of thephotos over the Internet from the customer's handheld mobile device; andsubmitting the check for mobile check deposit in the bank after thesystem authenticates the customer and after presenting the photos of thecheck to the customer; a computer associated with the bank programmed toupdate a balance of an account to reflect an amount of the checksubmitted for a mobile check deposit by the customer's handheld mobiledevice; and the system configured to perform additional steps including:confirming that the mobile check deposit can go forward after performingan optical character recognition on the check, the optical characterrecognition determining the amount of the check and reading a MICR line;initiating the mobile check deposit after performing the confirmingstep; and generating a log file for the mobile check deposit, the logfile including an image of the check submitted for the mobile checkdeposit.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the optical characterrecognition includes comparing the determined amount to an amountindicated by the customer.
 14. The system of claim 12, wherein thesystem is configured to perform the update after determining that somemark or signature is present in an endorsement location on the back sideof the check in the photos.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein thedigital camera is separate from the customer's handheld mobile device.16. The system of claim 12, wherein the customer's handheld mobiledevice is a PDA.
 17. The system of claim 12, wherein the system isconfigured to convert the photos into bi-tonal TIFF.
 18. The system ofclaim 12, wherein the wireless network is a cellular network.
 19. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the downloaded app manages taking thephotos.
 20. The system of claim 12, wherein the downloaded app causesthe customer's mobile device to perform the additional step of receivinginput from the customer indicating an amount of the check.
 21. Thesystem of claim 20, wherein the instructing step is performed after thereceiving step.
 22. The system of claim 12, wherein the confirming steptakes place after performing a duplicate detection on the check.
 23. Thesystem of claim 12, wherein the log file image is a bi-tonal TIFF. 24.The system of claim 12, wherein the copy of the photos is a modifiedversion of the photos taken with the customer's digital camera.
 25. Thesystem of claim 24, wherein the copy of the photos has a differentformat than the photos taken with the customer's digital camera.
 26. Thesystem of claim 12, further including a third-party vendor computer. 27.The system of claim 12, wherein the authentication includes receiving ausername and password.
 28. The system of claim 12, wherein theauthentication includes receiving data representing a customerfingerprint.
 29. The system of claim 12, wherein the steps furtherinclude assisting the customer as to an orientation for taking thephotos.